The recent suspension of Saleem Vahidy, DIG Traffic, and Saifullah Malik, ASP, from duty by IGP Punjab Jehanzeb Burki on the orders of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, is a travesty of justice which must not go unremarked. Both police officers have an unblemished record of integrity, professionalism and courage rate in the annals of police history. Mr Vahidy, it is reported, is so upset with the whole episode that he is thinking of submitting his resignation from the police. If he is not persuaded to the contrary, we will lose one of the finest police officers in the country.
Mr Vahidy was suspended on the basis of a report submitted by SSP Zulfikar Cheema alleging that Mr Vahidy, along with Mr Malik, had walked into the Tibbi police station in Lahore and ordered the thanedar to release a young man who had been hauled up for alleged “drunken behaviour”. The two senior officers, it is alleged, transgressed the limits of their authority by interfering with the duties of the Tibbi thana. What is the real story, how does it reflect on the workings of the police department and what light does it shed on the judgment of the CM and IGP?
A police party barged into a private gathering one night and hauled up a few youngsters. When one of them protested, he was whisked away to a police “doctor” who quickly “verified” that he appeared to be drunk. This was done by asking him to blow on the piece of paper (breath analyser test?) on which the “doctor” was writing his report. No blood or urine samples were taken or analysed. Indeed, the doctor’s report admits that the youngster’s appearance was not dishevelled; nor was his behaviour aggressive or hostile as might be expected of someone who was “drunk”. The good “doctor” nonetheless decided that the fellow was inebriated. A couple of phone calls requesting the thanedar not to be so bloody-minded only served to stiffen his resolve not to let the youngster go home. After Mr Vahidy’s intervention, SSP Cheema dug his heels in and reported the matter to DIG Tariq Parvez. Mr Parvez went up to the IGP who complained to Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif who thought fit to suspend both Mr Vahidy and Mr Malik and “return” their services to the federal government. The federal government quickly “approved” the suspension and asked the provincial government to conduct an enquiry against the two officers. That is where the matter rests.
I do not personally know SSP Cheema. I gather, however, that he is a fairly competent officer, even though he may be inclined to be a bit bullish. But I do know DIG Tariq Parvez, having worked closely with him, Mr Vahidy and Mr Malik during the kidnapping ordeal of my cousin Shahid Sethi in 1995. I believe that Mr Parvez is a hard-working, clean and upright man. I have also had the pleasure of briefly associating with the IGP, Mr Jehanzeb Burki, when he was Additional DG FIA and I was Adviser to the Prime Minister on Accountability during the caretaker administration of Malik Meraj Khalid. Mr Burki is also a fine person. That said, I must confess that I do not share their judgment to protest the “action”, and seek the suspension, of two of the finest police officers in the country. Indeed, I think their decision is a classic example of misplaced concreteness in undue haste.
Mr Saleem Vahidy is every law-abiding citizen’s role-model police officers. He is intelligent, quick-witted, compassionate and honest. He is the bane of every gangsters and kidnapper in Hyderabad, Karachi and Lahore. Mr Jameel Yusuf, who heads the respected Citizens-Police Liaison Committee in Karachi, sings Mr Vahidy’s praise endlessly and for the right reasons. So do countless others who have seen Mr Vahidy in action. Much the same may be said of young Saifullah Malik, the ASP who bears the scars of an encounter with a gang of kidnappers and who has always demonstrated the highest courage in the line of duty.
I would therefore like to ask SSP Cheema, DIG Parvez, IGP Burki and CM Sharif some sincere questions: Do you all really believe that Mr Vahidy’s ”action” warrants such a stiff, unprecedented penalty? Do you really think that by acting in this manner, you can make us believe that the police force under your command has atoned for all its sins of omission and commission? How is it that you have the time and inclination to take action against two superb police officers when much of the police force under your command remains riddled with corruption and criminality, when the province is soaked in sectarian blood, when law and order have gone to the dogs?
Without seeking Mr Vahidy’s approval (because he would have refused it), I raised this issue with CM Shahbaz Sharif recently. He said he was compelled to order the suspension of both officers because he had “no choice” in the matter. If he hadn’t done son, he argued, his determination and authority to cleanse the police would have been eroded.
I beg to disagree. The credibility of CM Sharif, IGP Burki, DIG Parvez and SSP Cheema is eroded by criminals and murderers who go free daily and not by reliable, professional officers like Saleem Vahidy and Saifullah Malik. Their credibility is undermined by a lack of accountability of crony politicians who pull strings to disable the police. Their credibility is demolished by the wave of crime and sectarian warfare which has engulfed the province. Their credibility is suspended every time a policeman accosts a couple in a park and demands to examine their nikah nama. How many officers, I should like to ask them, have they suspended for gross dereliction of duties, for corruption, for outright criminality? Indeed, out of the 20,000 policemen recruited by Mian Nawaz Sharif during his tenure as chief minister in the 1980s without due regard for rules and regulations, how many have been dismissed by this self-righteous administration?
No, Mr Shahbaz Sharif’s arguments do not wash. We are strengthened in this belief by the fact that the CM tried to make political capital out of the charges against Mr Vahidy. Addressing a public rally the day after the Vahidy incident, the CM boasted that he had “suspended a DIG for bailing out a drunkard”.
The suspension of DIG Saleem Vahidy and ASP Saifullah Malik is, quite clearly, a travesty of justice and fair play. Hundreds of such minor incidents take place everyday; most involve police officers and are resolved by a quick phone call or two. Many more will doubtless occur. Will the CM and IGP take the same stringent action then as they have taken in Mr Vahidy’s case? And what if they don’t?
The CM and IGP must therefore show the wisdom, courage and foresight to reconsider a patently hasty and unfair decision. The decline of the Punjab police should not be escapegoated at the altar of two fine officers who sought to undo a wrong by a subordinate.